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WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2008 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PACE 5A Letters to the Editor Homer mayor speaks at CVB meeting Banks BOE ‘does PC two-step again’ Dear Editor: I suppose the old adage is true - the more things change, the more they stay the same. The latest vic tim to be thrown under the bus by our esteemed, “always the teacher, never the student” school board is longtime and faithful educator, Lori Rylee. Ms. Rylee, whose record is cleaner than most operating tables, has been dragged before the court of public opinion and hysteria over a case that could have only been conjured up in one place - a child's imagination. Yes, I am saying it - this was made up, contrived by the collective men tality of children. Let me also say that this was prob ably not done in malice or spite. We must realize that for all our attempts to grow our children up too fast, they simply do not have the same take on reality and understanding of Dear Editor: When someone is caught red- handed stealing and told to unload the items and then let go, it is just wrong. We have had a lot of stealing in this area lately and it seems to me, if I am correct, that a thief is a thief. These people had been stealing from this place for two days before they were caught on the third day and they just let them go. environment as we adults do. The disturbing thing is that this appears to be evident in the parents as well. When I hear a parent make a com ment like, “when a hundred kids have the same story then it must be true,” I cringe. This just means that there are a hundred immature minds embracing the same misconception. If we went through the school at the beginning of a day telling the stu dents that the president was visiting campus in three days, it would be a firm reality by lunch time! Consider that the source prob ably does not have the capacity to distinguish fact from fiction - not because of anything evil, but because their minds have simply not logged enough hours of use to distinguish (dare I say discriminate) between the two. Let's now balance that with the near spotless record of a fine, well- What I want to know is why? If someone gets caught at Wal-mart stealing, they go to jail but not if they are caught at someone’s home. What are they saying to the thief- go ahead and steal from everyone in our county, it is all right. We will not do anything to you but do not steal from any stores because you will go to jail. Do we have to protect our homes liked, well respected administrator and colleague who has served Banks County schools for over 13 years and maybe, just maybe, we might look at this in a different light. But now to the truly sad part of this story - the Gregory Hines tap dancing skills of our intrepid school board who are more than willing to appease any conflict of this sort by simply sacrificing or pressuring the teacher in question to crawl away under the cover of night. These are teachers and administra tors whose education qualifications (i.e. degrees) run circles around our current crop of board members - most of which don't have college degrees themselves. Yet they get to pass judgment on fine educators like Lori Rylee. Sincerely, Don Hays Commerce by any means possible? Do we have to stand guard with our guns so thieves do not take what we worked hard for all our lives? Seems that way to me because Banks County will not. They will just let them go. People of Banks County, what do you think? Sincerely, Emily Ray Commerce process. Maybe one day, someone will wake up and have all of the answers to the mysteriousness of dreaming. Until then, we will all just have to sleep on it. Sherri Stephens is a contributing columnist for The Banks County News. E-mail comments about this column to charmbug5@hotmail. com. BY SHARON HOGAN Homer Mayor Doug Cheek pre sented the program at the month ly meeting of the Banks County Convention and Visitors Bureau on Wednesday, June 25, at the Holiday Inn Express. Cheek highlighted some of the recent changes to the downtown Homer area as part of the city’s streetscape project. Cheek said the city received a $500,000 grant for this project. One mile of Ray Street was paved. New benches and trash cans have been installed. The fountain area has been re-done. New banners are up in the downtown area. Some new sidewalks and curbs have been installed. Crosswalks are in and the street lights are up, Cheek said. Cheek said new flags and a new flagpole have been installed in front of the historic courthouse. Cheek also highlighted some of the events held in downtown Homer. The annual Sunday School celebration has been going on for 135 years in the downtown area. The city will hold its annual Labor Day Lestival on Aug. 29-31 on the lawn in front of the historic court house. Cheek said the courtroom upstairs in the historic courthouse will be used this fall while the cur rent courthouse is being renovated. A farmers market is being held every Saturday in the downtown area. At the farmers market each Saturday a local church sells food to the patrons. Cheek said the new Homer Lire Department is about one-half com plete. He urged everyone to go by and see the new building. OTHER BUSINESS In other business at the meeting on Wednesday: •the members approved the monthly income of $18,579 and the monthly expense of $7,088 for the CVB presented by Sherry Ward. •Chairman Mark Valentine announced Brenda Miller of Wells Largo Mortgage Company as a new member. We will have to sleep on it I was sitting on the sofa in my pajamas, thumbing through a new catalog while waiting for my green tea and kelp facial mask to dry, and that’s when I heard a knock at the door. I hesitated about answering, knowing whoever was on the other side wouldn't recog nize me with a green face. When I opened the door, there stood a television crew, and Ed McMann. He was holding a giant check and balloons, and blowing an air horn! Just before fainting, I screamed, “I know I must be dreaming!” I was — the sound of the air horn was my annoying alarm clock blaring from across the room. Dreaming has been a puzzling, yet fascinating, topic of interest for many throughout history. After all, humans spend one third of their lives sleeping. This means six years of sleep during an average lifetime. Dreams are unique in that nobody else can have your emotions, same experiences or identical back ground. In dreams, the rules of sherri Stephens reality do not apply. The average person usually dreams three to five dreams per night, totaling around two hours of sleep time. Whether you believe it or not, every one dreams. However, studies show that five minutes after the end of a dream, half of the content has already been forgotten. After 10 minutes, 90 per cent has been lost. And get this — during snoring time, no dreams are taking place. So why do we dream? One theory suggests that it is a natural response for our bodies, a way to cleanse and release all of the emotions that were held back throughout the day. Others believe that it is just a biological necessity of the sleep Concerned with thieves being ‘let go’ DOWNTOWN HOMER UPGRADES Homer Mayor Doug Cheek spoke to members of the Banks County Convention and Visitors Bureau at the monthly meeting on Wednesday about the changes and upgrades being made in downtown Homer as part of the city's streetscape project. Photo by Sharon Hogan •the group received a report that the new banners are up thanks to Gene Hart, Banks County Board of Commission Chairman. •the members were presented a copy of the TV commercial for JBTV 54 for the CVB. •Sherrard White announced the upcoming car show to be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Denny’s. White said 2,000 fli ers have been distributed about the event. Car show sponsorships are available for $25 each. White also said door prizes are needed. •White also announced the upcoming Chocolate Lair to be held on Nov. 10. He said Brenda White is working to get a bakery owners to serve as a judge along with Mike Duncan and Gene Hart. •Valentine announced the tax free holiday scheduled for July 31 through August 3. •White announced the monthly car show held at Denny’s from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month. A car show is also held at Commerce Crossing from 5 to 9 p.m. on the second Saturday each month. •Valentine told the group that Ward is the Banks County fund raising chairman for the Northeast Georgia district of the State YMCA of Georgia and is a member of the State Council of the State YMCA of Georgia. •Ward said the Banks County Entrepreneur Committee is still active and the county has achieved the entrepreneur friendly status. •Ward said the CVB is working with the Banks County Chamber of Commerce to host a meeting of the One Georgia Authority in Banks County. •Cheryl Smith, Georgia Economic Development Commission, was in attendance. Smith conducted a class prior to the regular meeting. •Alecia Andrews announce the upcoming Art & Antiques Lestival scheduled for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Aug. 2 and 3, at the Commerce Crossing shopping center. The next monthly meeting of the CVB will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30. The location will be announced at a later date. Bike ride to benefit BCHS football The Banks County Leopards Coach's Club and Indian Creek Cycles will host a benefit motor cycle ride Saturday to benefit the Banks County High School football program. The ride will start at 10 a.m. at Indian Creek Cycles, Banks Crossing and go through neighbor ing counties. The cost is $35 per bike and $15 per additional rider. Participants will receive a T-shirt. Your #1 source for local news The Banks County News Back-to-school deals. FREE iPod! We are thrilled to announce a PeachMac exclusive deal for the back-to-school season. Now you can purchase a MacBook Pro for only $1,699 and get a FREE iPod touch 8GB or a free iPod Classic 80GB and a FREE printer. This deal represents a savings of $700! 72 HOUR SALE Thursday, July 10 th thru Saturday, July 12 20% OFF KENMORE ELITE’ APPLIANCES 20% oil regular prices. Excludes Great Price Items and closeouts. 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